History

American Experience

American Experience, TV's most-watched history series, brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

The Cancer Detectives

52m 54s

The Cancer Detectives tells the untold story of the first-ever war on cancer and the coalition of people who fought tirelessly to save women from cervical cancer: a Greek immigrant, Dr. George Papanicolaou; his intrepid wife, Mary; Japanese-born artist Hashime Murayama; Dr. Helen Dickens, an African American OBGYN in Philadelphia; and an entirely new class of female scientists.

Episodes

  • Part 2 |Citizen Hearst | American Experience: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Part 2 |Citizen Hearst | American Experience

    S33 E44 - 1h 52m

    William Randolph Hearst continued his rise to power and expansion into Hollywood. The model for Citizen Kane, he had a decades-long affair with actress Marion Davies, built an enormous castle at San Simeon, and forever transformed modern media.

  • Part 1 |Citizen Hearst | American Experience: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Part 1 |Citizen Hearst | American Experience

    S33 E43 - 1h 50m

    William Randolph Hearst builds the nation’s largest media empire by the 1930s. Born into one of America’s wealthiest families, he used his outlets to achieve unprecedented political power, then ran for office himself.

  • Moving soon to WETA Passport

    Sandra Day O'Connor: The First: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Sandra Day O'Connor: The First

    S33 E6 - 1h 51m

    Discover the story of the Supreme Court’s first female justice. A pioneer who both reflected and shaped an era, Sandra Day O'Connor was the deciding vote in cases on some of the 20th century’s most controversial issues—including race, gender and reproductive rights.

  • Billy Graham: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Billy Graham

    S33 E5 - 1h 51m

    Explore the life of one of the best-known and most influential religious leaders of the 20th century. An international celebrity by age 30, he built a media empire, preached to millions worldwide, and had the ear of tycoons, presidents and royalty.

  • American Oz: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    American Oz

    S33 E4 - 1h 52m

    Explore the life and times of author L. Frank Baum, the creator of one of the most beloved, enduring and classic American narratives - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Baum never lost his childlike sense of wonder and eventually crafted his observations into a magical tale of survival, adventure and self-discovery, reinterpreted through the generations in films, books and musicals.

  • The Blinding of Isaac Woodard, Spanish: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Blinding of Isaac Woodard, Spanish

    S33 E42 - 1h 52m

    In 1946, Isaac Woodard, a Black army sergeant on his way home to South Carolina after serving in WWII, was pulled from a bus for arguing with the driver. The local chief of police savagely beat him, leaving him unconscious and permanently blind.

  • The Blinding of Isaac Woodard: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Blinding of Isaac Woodard

    S33 E3 - 1h 52m

    In 1946, Isaac Woodard, a Black army sergeant on his way home to South Carolina after serving in WWII, was pulled from a bus for arguing with the driver. The local chief of police savagely beat him, leaving him unconscious and permanently blind.

Extras + Features

  • Trailer | Blinding of Isaac Woodard | American Experience: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Trailer | Blinding of Isaac Woodard | American Experience

    S33 E3 - 30s

    In 1946, Isaac Woodard, a Black army sergeant on his way home to South Carolina after serving in WWII, was pulled from a bus for arguing with the driver. The local chief of police savagely beat him, leaving him unconscious and permanently blind.

  • Judge Julius Waties Waring: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Judge Julius Waties Waring

    S33 E3 - 1m 7s

    Julius Waties Waring presided over the trial of a white police chief who brutally beat and blinded Black soldier Isaac Woodard in 1946. He became an unexpected civil rights champion with rulings on several pivotal cases in the 1940s.

  • Extended Trailer | Blinding of Isaac Woodard: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Extended Trailer | Blinding of Isaac Woodard

    S33 E3 - 2m

    In 1946, Isaac Woodard, a Black army sergeant on his way home to South Carolina after serving in WWII, was pulled from a bus for arguing with the driver. The local chief of police savagely beat him, leaving him unconscious and permanently blind.

  • Chapter 1 | The Blinding of Isaac Woodard: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Chapter 1 | The Blinding of Isaac Woodard

    S33 E3 - 10m 31s

    In 1946, Isaac Woodard, a Black army sergeant on his way home to South Carolina after serving in WWII, was pulled from a bus for arguing with the driver. The local chief of police savagely beat him, leaving him unconscious and permanently blind.

  • Walter F. White: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Walter F. White

    S33 E2 - 1m 18s

    In 1930, Walter White took over as executive secretary of the NAACP. When the Daughters of the American Revolution barred Marian Anderson from singing at Constitution Hall. White had an inspiration that transcended the whole debate: a free, outdoor concert on the Lincoln Memorial steps.

  • Extended Trailer | Voice of Freedom | American Experience: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Extended Trailer | Voice of Freedom | American Experience

    S33 E2 - 1m 40s

    Hailed as a voice that “comes around once in a hundred years” by maestros in Europe and widely celebrated by both white and black audiences at home, Marian Anderson's fame hadn’t been enough to spare her from the indignities and outright violence of racism and segregation.

  • Chapter 1 | Voice of Freedom: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Chapter 1 | Voice of Freedom

    S33 E2 - 9m 18s

    On Easter Sunday, 1939, contralto Marian Anderson stepped up to a microphone in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Inscribed on the walls of the monument behind her were the words “all men are created equal.”

  • The Voice of Marian Anderson: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Voice of Marian Anderson

    S33 E2 - 1m 9s

    In 1925, 28-year-old Marian Anderson won a New York Philharmonic competition that drew national
    attention. But most signing opportunities in the U.S. remained closed to Anderson because she was Black.

  • Chapter 1 | Goin' Back To T-Town: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Chapter 1 | Goin' Back To T-Town

    S33 E2 - 8m 29s

    The story of Greenwood, an extraordinary Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that prospered during the 1920s and 30s despite rampant and hostile segregation.

  • Trailer | Goin’ Back to T-Town | American Experience: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Trailer | Goin’ Back to T-Town | American Experience

    S33 E2 - 30s

    The story of Greenwood, an extraordinary Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that prospered during the 1920s and 30s despite rampant and hostile segregation. Torn apart in 1921 by one of the worst racially-motivated massacres in the nation’s history, the neighborhood rose from the ashes.

  • Greenwood: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Greenwood

    S33 E2 - 1m 19s

    In the early 1900s, a group of black businessmen purchased land in the northeast section of Tulsa, Oklahoma. They called their community Greenwood.

Schedule

  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Friday
    Mar 29

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Friday
    Mar 29

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: The Cancer Detectives: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Cancer Detectives

    Friday
    Mar 29

    1 Hour

    The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent.
  • Image
    American Experience: The Cancer Detectives: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Cancer Detectives

    Friday
    Mar 29

    1 Hour

    The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent.
  • Image
    American Experience: The Cancer Detectives: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Cancer Detectives

    Saturday
    Mar 30

    1 Hour

    The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent.
  • Image
    American Experience: The Cancer Detectives: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Cancer Detectives

    Saturday
    Mar 30

    1 Hour

    The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Saturday
    Mar 30

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space

    Saturday
    Mar 30

    2 Hours

    Author Zora Neale Hurston's anthropological work challenges assumptions about race, gender and cultural superiority that had been defined by the field in the 19th century.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Saturday
    Mar 30

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: The Cancer Detectives: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Cancer Detectives

    Saturday
    Mar 30

    1 Hour

    The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    2 Hours

    Author Zora Neale Hurston's anthropological work challenges assumptions about race, gender and cultural superiority that had been defined by the field in the 19th century.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: The Cancer Detectives: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Cancer Detectives

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent.
  • Image
    American Experience: The Cancer Detectives: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Cancer Detectives

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Monday
    Apr 1

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.

WETA Passport

Stream tens of thousands of hours of your PBS and local favorites with WETA Passport whenever and wherever you want. Catch up on a single episode or binge-watch full seasons before they air on TV.